Wikileaks founder’s appeal denied

Julian Assange, founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, has had his appeal against extradition to Sweden to be tried for alleged sex crimes denied by the British court.

The website creator has denied the allegations, saying they are part of an attempt to discredit WikiLeaks.

High Court appeal Judges John Thomas and Duncan Ousely rejected Assange’s claim that it would be unfair and unlawful to hand him over to Swedish authorities on inaccurate, politically motivated charges.

He remains on bail in the UK, under virtual house arrest in southern England, and will now consider whether to take this appeal to Britain’s Supreme Court.

The allegations against Assange include the rape of one woman and the molestation of a second in Stockholm last year; relationships he has continually claimed were consensual.

He and his legal team claim the allegations are trumped up as a way to attack WikiLeaks, which is 2010 released hundreds of thousands of confidential diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world.